The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1887-12-25
THE PERCHERON HORSE.
WHAT AN ENTHUSIASTIC UNITED
STATES SENATOR SAYS or HIM.

OF the Horse.
Senator Palmer. Of Michigan. j. m en-.
thusast on the Percheron horse. and quite
romance is connected with h's love for
II. The first F.rcherons he ever saw
were painted ones, and they formed a nart
Of Rosa Bonheur's noted picture. "The
Horse Fair, which was hanging in Mrs
a. T. Stewards picture gallery at the
time. lie was so well pleased with them
that he investigated their character md
went personally 20 France 20 pick out
some for his farm. He has now sixty Of
these animals, ranging in value from
$1,000 to $1,000 each, and he is the presi-
dent 81 the perCheron Horse society If the
United States. While in France last wear
he made a speech 10 the percher0n Horse
Breeders society Of France, and he thinks
that this horse is the best breed In the
world for general purposes
at is said he, "the horse Tor the
farmer lie can take 10 from the lumber
wagon and use it in his carriage. and
have been told Of instances where Per-
cher0n horses weighing /, zoo pounds have
gone a mile In three minutes. They are.
you know. n distinct type. and are sup
posed 20 have originated by cross of the
Arabian horse upon the heavy horse OF
Normandy They came from In Porcho.
province about sixty miles square. boo
Normandy Here The breed bias attained
ifs greatest perfection, md 81 is here that
the horse gets lts name How the Ara1iN.
got into France ] dO not know. hut ] sup
pose 10 came there either through ihe -ar-
accns when they were whipped by Charles
Martel at Tours. or 30 may Doe that the
Counts of NOgcnt dc Do ROtr0u brought
them back from Palestine during The
Crsadcs But there's mo- doubt that the
Arab blood Is there, and in modern times.
after excellence and identity Of type had
been recognized, this blood was re-cnlorced
from time 90 time from the royal and
national stables Of France.
1.-The horses have been noted for years
ia France as good draft horses, and they
We're, about ten years ago, IN general use
in Paris as omnibus horses At that time
u team of them would take one of those
heavy buses, with seats both inside and
on the roof and filed with passengers. and
drag 10 along no the rate Of eight miles an
hour over the asphalt During my trip
to Paris last spring / noticed u decided
in the character Of the horses
so used, and | found that the perchcrous
had been replaced by others. Upon
inquiry / was told that the great demand
for the PerchcrOn horse in America had
risen the price from $500 TO from Si00 to
1000, thus making them too expensive
for omnibus use. The horses now used in
Paris omnbuses are the Boulonals, the
Belgians and other heavy horses Of Nor
mandy and Flanders which have no infl-
tration of thoroughbred blood
"As TO Percher0ns, there are millions
OF dollars already invested in the United
States, and there is q gentleman named
Durham who has made a fortune out of
them He might be called the Perchcron
horse king lie has had as many as 500
percherOus on his farm at one time His
house on his farm 40 Wayne, forty miles
from Chicago, is equal 20 Abbottsfold i'm
its appointments. IL is hung with old
tapestry, and has many Studies Of Rosa
Bonheur. a great friendship exists be-
tween Rosa Bonhcur and Mr. Durham.
and be lately got an Apache pony for her
at her request and shipped it across tie
water for use in one Of her paintings.
"Iell me something Of the characteris-
ties of the pcrckeron horse
The horses are generally Of a dapple
gray. though they may b. black and now
and then are bay OF chestnut. They are
Il heavy horse, weighing coo pounds and
upward. They have fine action, a fine
skin, fine coats, great strength and great
endurance for work and travel They
are noted for their d0ciiity and tractabie-
ness. and may be said 20 be born broken
10 the harness. / harnessed team Of
them for the first time one morning 40
o'clock. Ats they were drawing pl0w
rs well as well broken team, and were
only little awkward. They plOwed in
he field all day, only being rested now
and then that their shoulders might not
get sore The next day my farmer drove
hem into the city Of Detroit, and though |
hey had never seen a crowd Of people, an |
electric car, a street car or steam car, or |
he innumerable objects displayed in q |
business city, they showed no fear-only |
. kind of laudable curiosity They would |
mell of q steam engine, and while / was |
blowing mp stumps with dynamite This |
ummer they stood by and watched the |
pieces blown mp into the mir without more |
han raising their eyes at the sound /
ttrbute this fact % their remarkable in
in the first place, and again 70
he fact chat these horses had never heard |
cross word OF been struck
TREATMENT o. HORSES
"What is your theory for the treatment
f horses How should they be man
gedF'
"A horse should be treated just as you
would q man or q boy Ny carriage
orses Jared better mt the hands of an OLD
.ng.ishman who knew nothing about
orse. than with any other driver l have
yer had. when this man asked me how
e should treat them he was told 10 treat
hem just as he did himself only a little
etter. lie WAS methOdical in his ways,
nd be always fed the horses before ho
ad himself lnWarm weather he watcrcd
hem whenever he got the chance, and In
Inter three times day lnasmuch as
he horses could not scratch themselves, |
e gave them a good brushing every
iorning, and it IL my rule In driving n
orse that whenever | feel that l want q
rink myself l also feel that the horse
lay be suffering in the same direction.
THE PcrchcrOn horse, " Senator Palmer
-ent on. "has great powers Of endurance.
lie has q fine knee action, and he is sOfull
& .t.H. g.. o Z. l..H I